The Constant Dieter

The Face Off: Constant Dieter vs. The Scale

Big changes afoot! Yesterday I started phase 1 of the Fat Smash Diet, the diet behind the Celebrity Fit Club television show. I don't watch that show regularly (ahem) but I've seen it enough to be intrigued by the diet.

I bought the book and was immediately pleased because it just got straight to the point. It was such a quick read; Dr. Ian Smith doesn't waste pages (or worse, for some diet books, entire chapters) before getting to what you eat on this diet, and what you don't.

As you know from this blog, I've been a little out of control with my eating of late. I'm feeling like I need to detox to break my bad habits -- and that's exactly how The Fat Smash begins. You spend the first 9 days detoxing, but then you add most foods back in afterwards. I like his approach for many reasons:

It's just 9 days of detox -- I feel like I could do almost anything for that amount of time. (Ha, we'll see about that!)

After the 9 days, it doesn't seem like I'll be depriving myself of much -- I won't be able to eat white sugar and white flour but that's about it. I can handle that since I prefer the taste of wheat-based foods anyway.

There's no counting of anything on this diet -- there's a list of foods you can eat, and a list of ones you can't. I find that to be much easier with my lifestyle rather than measuring and counting every little thing.

The foods during the detox are ones I love anyway -- all fruits and veggies, egg whites, yogurt, oatmeal, beans and brown rice. I never liked the Zone and other such low-carb diets because they deprive you of fruit, and I love fruit.

Day 1 was surprisingly easy. Maybe it's because I was so motivated. Or maybe it's that we're having a heat wave, so eating fruits and veggies was better than cooking in a hot kitchen!

The most stressful part of beginning this diet was the initial weigh-in. Diet books never acknowledge how difficult that part is. When you're overweight and upset about it, you don't tend to weight yourself much, or at all. Facing that number on the scale can be really hard. Yet most books dismiss this issue, and just tell you to weigh yourself at the start, and again in a few days, like it's no big deal. Meanwhile, I read something that tells me to get on a scale and I start to tremble. What if the number on the scale is really much higher than I think?

This time, it took me an extra 3 days to begin this diet merely because I couldn't bring myself to step on that scale and look down at that number. But I eventually did it, by playing a little mind-trick. Here's my advice for getting on that scale:

Pull scale out from wherever you hid it. Or remove whatever items you piled on it to hide it. For me, it was old magazines.

Make sure scale still works -- but not by standing on it! Get something that you know the weight of, like a few bags of sugar or flour, and plop them on it. Make sure the number that shows is correct.

Think of an extra high number -- a weight that you really don't think you are. Not a number that's so high, you already know it isn't true (like thinking of 700 pounds when you're clearly not even over 200 pounds). Just something higher than what you think you are. Example: If you think you're around 175, think of 185 or 190.

Take off all your clothes and shoes. (I don't care what they say -- shoes and clothes do add pounds. I never understand why they don't make you disrobe at the doctor's office!)

Pee. Make sure no water weight is counted.

Close your eyes tight and think of that high number. Visualize it.

Climb on the scale -- eyes still closed -- and wait a few seconds.

Open eyes really quick. Take a peek.

Jump off.

When I did it, I had that extra high in my number in my head, so when I saw a lower number, it didn't feel all that bad! It actually motivated me because while I still have a lot I want to lose, at least it's not that bad -- not as bad as it would've been if I actually saw that higher number on the scale! Amazing what a little mind-trick can do.

More on the diet tomorrow

How I was good today: Followed Phase 1 of Fat Smash to a tee.

How I was bad today: Can you believe that I wasn't bad at all?!

What I managed to avoid: Was invited to a last-minute BBQ dinner with a girlfriend, but I said no since I really want to stick with this diet.

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